Marine Biology News

December 24, 2024

Top Headlines

New Study Highlights the Correlation Between Live Corals and Fishing Yields

Dec. 19, 2024 — A new study examines the correlation between fish yield and live coral habitats. Researchers analyzed the yields of nine fisheries dependent on Australia's Great Barrier Reef from 2016 to 2020. Results show that substantial losses could occur if the ...

Are Particle Emissions from Offshore Wind Farms Harmful for Blue Mussels?

Dec. 19, 2024 — After several years of service under harsh weather conditions, the rotor blades of offshore wind parks are subjected to degradation and surface erosion, releasing sizeable quantities of particle emissions into the environment. A team of researchers ...

Living in the Deep, Dark, Slow Lane: Insights from the First Global Appraisal of Microbiomes in Earth's Subsurface Environments

Dec. 18, 2024 — Which microbes thrive below us in darkness -- in gold mines, in aquifers, in deep boreholes in the seafloor -- and how do they compare to the microbiomes that envelop the Earth's surfaces, on land ...

Giant Virus Encodes Key Piece of Protein-Making Machinery of Cellular Life

Dec. 18, 2024 — Researchers recently discovered that a virus, FloV-SA2, encodes one of the proteins needed to make ribosomes, the central engines in all cells that translate genetic information into proteins, the building blocks of life. This is the first ...

Latest Headlines

updated 6:18pm EST

Phytochromes: The 'Eyes' That Enable Microalgae to Find Their Way in the Depths

Dec. 18, 2024 — The phytoplankton that populate oceans are known to play a key role in marine ecosystems and climate regulation. Like terrestrial plants, they store ...

Using Drones, Researchers Assess the Health of Humpback Whale Mother-Calf Pairs Across the Pacific Ocean

Dec. 17, 2024 — Biologists used drone imagery to understand how nursing humpback whale mothers and their calves fare as they cross the Pacific Ocean. Recent declines ...

Salmon Genes Unlock Secrets of Puberty and Evolution

Dec. 17, 2024 — A study shows how a single gene in Atlantic salmon can dramatically influence the timing of puberty -- a key factor for salmon life cycle and ...

Corals Depend on Near Neighbors to Reproduce

Dec. 16, 2024 — A new study reveals corals must be within only a few meters of each other to successfully reproduce, leaving them vulnerable in a warming ...

New Study Finds Marine Animals Save Energy by Swimming in a Depth 'Sweet Spot'

Dec. 16, 2024 — Researchers have found that marine animals across mammals, birds and reptiles swim at similar relative depths when traveling and not feeding to save ...

Unique Motor Control System of Anglerfish's Specialized 'Fishing Rod' Discovered

Dec. 12, 2024 — Researchers have uncovered in anglerfish a specialized motor neuron population for the first dorsal fin used for 'fishing'. When the first dorsal fin ...

Overfishing Has Halved Shark and Ray Populations Since 1970

Dec. 12, 2024 — A new analysis reveals that overfishing has caused populations of chondrichthyan fishes -- sharks, rays, and chimaeras -- to decline by more than 50 per cent since 1970. To determine the ...

Surveys Show Full Scale of Massive Die-Off of Common Murres Following the 'Warm Blob' in the Pacific Ocean

Dec. 12, 2024 — Colony surveys of common murres, an Alaskan seabird, show the full effects of the 2014-16 marine heat wave known as 'the blob.' Analysis of 13 ...

How Helicopter Parenting Protects Baby Reef Fish

Dec. 12, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a rare example of 'great fish parenting' with a common coral reef species found to actively protect their young by eating ...

Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Bacteria Hold Key to Understanding Nitrous Oxide Reduction

Dec. 12, 2024 — Scientists unearth a clue to the molecular mechanisms involved in N2O reduction by deep-sea hydrothermal vent ...

Seals Strategically Scoot Around the Seas on Icebergs

Dec. 10, 2024 — Harbor seals in icy regions use icebergs shed by glaciers as safe platforms to give birth, care for young and molt. New research finds that as glaciers change with the climate, the resulting changes ...

Tiny Poops in the Ocean May Help Solve the Carbon Problem

Dec. 10, 2024 — Some of the world's smallest animals and their tiny poops could aid in the fight against climate change. A study reports that clay dust sprayed on the surface of seawater converts free-floating ...

Climate Change Impacting Freshwater Fish Species

Dec. 9, 2024 — Freshwater fish populations that dwell nearer the poles are outperforming their equatorial counterparts, researchers have ...

New Ocean Predator Discovered in the Atacama Trench

Dec. 9, 2024 — Characterized by darkness and intense pressure, the ocean's hadal zone seems uninhabitable, yet dozens of unique organisms call it home. Each species discovered there adds a crucial piece to the ...

How Do Marine Food Webs Respond to Increasing Alkalinity?

Dec. 6, 2024 — To mitigate climate change, human-made carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions must be reduced as quickly and drastically as possible. Additionally, some of the CO2 already emitted needs to be safely removed ...

Ocean Density Identified as a Key Driver of Carbon Capture by Marine Plankton

Dec. 3, 2024 — New findings have revealed that changes in ocean density have a significant impact on the rate at which marine plankton incorporate carbon into their shells. This has profound implications for carbon ...

Deep-Sea Marvels: How Anglerfish Defy Evolutionary Expectations

Dec. 2, 2024 — A groundbreaking study sheds light on the extraordinary evolution of anglerfish, a group of deep-sea dwellers whose bizarre adaptations have captivated scientists and the public alike. The research ...

To Build Better Fiber Optic Cables, Ask a Clam

Dec. 2, 2024 — Since the first fiber optic cables rolled out in the 1970s, they've become a major part of everything from medical devices to high-speed internet and cable TV. But as it turns out, one group of ...

Sea Anemone Study Shows How Animals Stay 'in Shape'

Nov. 29, 2024 — Some animals, such as the starlet sea anemone, can regenerate large parts of their body, even after major injuries. Researchers have shown this regeneration response involves cells and molecules in ...

Coral Adaptation Unlikely to Keep Pace With Global Warming

Nov. 28, 2024 — Coral adaptation to ocean warming and marine heatwaves will likely be overwhelmed without rapid reductions of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to an international team of ...

Shells, Teeth and Bones of 'Weird and Wonderful Organisms' Provide Historical Environmental Clues

Nov. 27, 2024 — A groundbreaking international study shows how chemical fingerprints left by 'underappreciated' aquatic organisms could help scientists monitor global environmental ...

Brain Test Shows That Crabs Process Pain

Nov. 26, 2024 — Researchers have demonstrated that painful stimuli are sent to the brain of shore crabs providing more evidence for pain in crustaceans. EEG style measurements show clear neural reactions in the ...

Under-Ice Species at Risk as Arctic Warms

Nov. 26, 2024 — 'Specialist' lifeforms that live under Arctic sea ice are at risk as the ice retreats, new research ...

Oil Spill Still Contaminating Sensitive Mauritius Mangroves Three Years On, Study Finds

Nov. 26, 2024 — Three years after bulk carrier MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef off Mauritius, spilling 1000 tonnes of a new type of marine fuel oil, research has confirmed the oil is still present in an ...

To Design Better Water Filters, Engineers Look to Manta Rays

Nov. 25, 2024 — Studying the filter-feeding mechanism of mobula rays, engineers developed a new design for industrial cross-flow water filters. Research shows the filter-feeders strike a natural balance between ...

Exploring the Impact of Offshore Wind on Whale Deaths

Nov. 21, 2024 — Scientists have presented work examining the circumstances surrounding the whale deaths off the coast of New Jersey in the winter of 2022-23, which prompted concern that survey work in the area ...

Fewer Than 7% of Global Hotspots for Whale-Ship Collisions Have Protection Measures in Place

Nov. 21, 2024 — A new study has quantified the risk for whale-ship collisions worldwide for four geographically widespread ocean giants that are threatened by shipping: blue, fin, humpback and sperm whales. ...

New Model Can Help Understand Coexistence in Nature

Nov. 18, 2024 — Different species of seabirds can coexist on small, isolated islands despite eating the same kind of fish. A researcher has been involved in developing a mathematical model that can be used to better ...

How Marine Worms Regenerate Lost Body Parts

Nov. 18, 2024 — Many living organisms are able to regenerate damaged or lost tissue, but why some are particularly good at this and others are not is not fully understood. Molecular biologists have now made an ...

Tiny Worm Makes for Big Evolutionary Discovery

Nov. 18, 2024 — The history of a major animal group, composed of millions of species of insects, arachnids, and nemotodes, has been elusive -- until now. A team has now identified the oldest known ecdysozoan in the ...